Sam Mitchell has been thrown out of one game in his first year as an NBA head coach with the Raptors. But given his fiery, competitive nature, he must have been ejected lots of times during his lengthy career as a player, right?

"Once. Just once," Mitchell said last night. "(Official) Steve Javie threw me with one second to go in the game. I deserved it, though."

On Tuesday coach Mitchell was tossed late in the fourth quarter of the Raptors' 103-91 loss to the Miami Heat.

"My goal was to not get thrown out of a game this year," Mitchell said. "I got a few technicals, but when Mo (Raptors forward Morris Peterson) got tossed (with about four minutes to play), I just really had an issue with that. I just thought after I got the first (technical foul), why waste it?

"If Mo got tossed, then definitely Dwyane Wade or Shaquille O'Neal (of the Heat) should have got tossed, too. They said Shaq was making peace, but I've never heard anyone make peace using profanity."

THE KID IS ALL RIGHT

Shaq was complimentary, albeit a little vague, when asked about Chris Bosh of the Raptors.

"I don't really look at guys and memorize players, but (Bosh) is very impressive," Shaq said. "He can shoot, he has an inside game, physical at times, he's pretty good . I think it will take him a few more years to get up there with the Tim Duncans and the Jermaine O'Neals and Yao Mings. But for now -- second-year player, right? -- he's more than holding his own."

AW, SHOOT

Lost in the explosive ending to the Raptors' loss in Miami was just how ice cold the visitors were in the fourth quarter. The Raptors made only five of their 18 field-goal attempts, and three of those five buckets were made in the dying minutes, after the Heat had assumed control.

"They (the Heat) kind of got hip to what we were running," Raptors veteran Jalen Rose said. "We were running pick-and-roll over and over, and once they got used to it they did a better job defending it."